Country music legend Conlee to perform at Grand Prairie Center

Tickets are $39, $25, $20 and $15 and can be purchased in advance by calling (870) 673-4201 ext. 1895, visiting www.pccua.edu, or in person at the Center’s box office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

It is the first No. 1 hit and signature song of country music legend John Conlee. He has entertained crowds for over three decades and, in approximately four days, that crowd will be in the Grand Prairie Center in Stuttgart.

Conlee is set to take the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday in Riceland Auditorium.

“The concert is for anyone who loves classic country music,” Amanda Holsted, the center’s director, said. “His music has a real ‘Americana’ sound and his voice is one of a kind.”

Conlee was born and raised in Kentucky farm country. When not on tour, he is on his 32-acre farm outside of Nashville. His hobbies include woodworking and gun-smithing.

The concert “adds a talented, veteran musician who has had multiple top 20 hits on the Country Music Charts. He is a seasoned entertainer that knows how to perform to large audiences,” Holsted said.

He has 29 single releases with eight songs reaching the No. 1 spot on the national country charts and 26 hitting the Top 20. Conlee’s hit songs include “Lady Lay Down,” “Before My Time,” “I Don’t Remember Loving You” and “Common Man.”

Holsted said Conlee began his crusade to save the family farm several years ago, performing an Omaha, Neb., concert in June 1985. Willie Nelson had announced plans for the Farm Aid concerts, and Conlee called offering to help. Since then, Conlee has been a part of nine Farm Aid concerts, which have raised $13 million to aid the family farm.

“I certainly didn’t help to organize the entertainers and the concerts for the publicity,” Conlee said. “I wanted to help bring attention to the crisis affecting this nation’s family farms. With the help of Willie and others, we brought the family problems to the forefront and some changes began to take place.”

Conlee added that he “wasn’t a radical or a rebel, but I will stand up and speak my mind on issues that I feel affect me, my family and others, and the farm crisis was, and remains, one of those issues.

Tickets are $39, $25, $20 and $15 and can be purchased in advance by calling (870) 673-4201 ext. 1895, visiting www.pccua.edu, or in person at the Center’s box office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.